Vertical reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ ought to likewise impact our natural human relationships as well.
We see this idea displayed so beautifully in Paul’s short letter to Philemon.
Philemon was a believer, probably from the city of Colossae. As far as we can tell he had a bondservant or household slave named Onesimus who had run away. Somehow in the providence of God he came into contact with the apostle Paul while he was imprisoned. Perhaps he sought him out, we cannot be certain though.
Through this, Onesimus came to faith in Christ and became a part of the family of God. Now, by implication he was not only considered a spiritual son of Paul’s, but he was now a brother in Christ to Philemon!
As a result, the apostle Paul puts forward a charge that Philemon ought to receive him back, and to specifically to receive Onesimus as if he were Paul himself! (see Philem. 1:17).
Paul did not command Philemon to do the right thing, although with apostolic authority he could have. Rather he appealed to him so that his goodness would not be the result of compulsion (Philem. 1:14).
Here, the gospel was at work not only reconciling sinners to the Savior, but also to one another. Paul was reconciled to God. Philemon was reconciled to God. Now, Onesimus was reconciled to God too.
The task at this point was for them to be reconciled to one another.
Any wrongs done, the apostle concluded, should be charged to his own account. Knowing that Philemon owed his hope of eternal life to the apostle Paul’s ministry, it was a small ask for him to extend forgiveness in response. No matter what loss Philemon might have suffered, it paled in comparison to the debt he first owed to God and effectively owed to Paul too.
Now, some wonder why Paul did not require Onesimus to be freed. At this point it is important for us to know that the American slavery that we are familiar with was an entirely different institution than what bound Onesimus to Philemon’s service.
Scholar, Clinton Arnold, makes a helpful note:
“The Greco-Roman world was very much family-oriented, and for a slave to be manumitted and sent out of the household would actually be potentially greatly disadvantageous. Without a family, he would have no immediate social, legal, or occupational connections.”[1]
We do not know what situation would have been best for Onesimus. What we do know is that Philemon should have responded to Paul’s plea with what was genuinely best for Onesimus after fully forgiving him for any wrongs committed.
How might our relationships be changed if we looked at others as God looks at them?
This man was not to be considered a useless slave; he was now a fellow brother in Christ. He was an image-bearer of God with value and should be treated as such. As a member of God’s household, he should be treated with kindness and dignity.
As the apostle John wrote in another place if we love the Begetter, we also love His begotten (see 1 John 5:1).
When we are reborn into the family of God, we now have a whole family. We not only are made children of God but have brothers and sisters in Christ who should be treated as such, no matter what natural relationship or connection we might have had with them formerly.
[1] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Romans to Philemon. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 517.